Parent: Holmgren says NHL draft will put spotlight on Philly

By
Rob Parent, Delaware County Daily Times

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Paul Holmgren admitted he hasn’t completely kept his hands out of hockey affairs since essentially promoting himself to team president and giving Ron Hextall a free general managing hand over the Flyers last month.

That doesn’t mean Holmgren has had a problem keeping busy.

Anything but, as he and the Flyers are but one week away from hosting the NHL’s signature summer event.

The NHL Draft, with all its goofy smiles from anonymous teenagers, confident predictions of success from league executives who otherwise wish to remain anonymous, and mandated booing of the fans’ favorite target, Commissioner Gary Bettman, kicks off Friday night at Wells Fargo Center. But with special events and ceremonies lined up through the coming week, Holmgren said his team and its fans are raring to go now.

“It’s great for the city, great for the fans, and great for our team,” Holmgren said Thursday. “We’re excited about it.”

There will be photo ops galore of top-ranked prospects such as Canadian junior league centers Sam Bennett and Sam Reinhart, along with impressive defensemen kids like Aaron Ekblad and Haydn Fleury.

There are also a couple of relatively local heroes taking part, including high-ranked defenseman Anthony DeAngelo, a native of Sewell, N.J., and a 17-year-old named Kasperi Kapanen, who played against much older competition in Finland’s top hockey league last season, but spent much of his youth learning the game in South Jersey while his father Sami played for the Flyers for all or parts of five seasons.

With a story cast like that, wouldn’t it be a shame if no one noticed what was happening?

“The draft is a big thing that will put a spotlight right on our city,” Holmgren said. “In (Newark) New Jersey last year they filled the building (for the first round on a Friday night). ... There are passionate hockey fans in all our markets.”

Philadelphia has always been a solid sell for the NHL, a top U.S. market that has always ranked right with Original Six markets Detroit, New York and Chicago in hockey popularity.

Yet this is the first time the Flyers are playing the role of Draft Host. It will be the usual glitzy first-round affair Friday, June 27, then the league execs will drone on at a fast clip through rounds 2 through 7 before closing it with a gavel crash midway through Saturday afternoon.

But there will be a couple of related events around town, a big bash at Xfinity Live and, if the Flyers play their cards right, a beneficial trade made by them sometime during the weekend.

Or not.

Ah, but that’s not really Holmgren’s area anymore, anyway.

When he switched office positions about six weeks ago, he promised to study up on the business side of the game. He says that’s just what he’s been doing.

“Yeah, I’ve been busy,” Holmgren said. Now his schedule promises to pick up even more.

“We’re hoping this (draft) sparks a lot of interest in the Flyers and in the NHL,” Holmgren said. “It’s a lot of work on it by our staff going on behind the scenes, and we’re excited about that.”

• • •

Holmgren said he was in solid agreement with Hextall’s decision to change assistant coaches, bringing in Gord Murphy Wednesday and wishing organizational veteran John Paddock a fond but fast farewell.

Murphy began his playing career with the Flyers in 1988-89, Holmgren’s first season as head coach. Holmgren said he’s closely followed Murphy’s successful progression as a 14-year NHL defenseman and 11-year assistant coach.

Three top defensive prospects, Shayne Gostisbehere, Robert Hagg and 2013 top draft pick Samuel Morin are all expected to be in training camp in September. That the Flyers haven’t had a home-grown defender thrive with their organization since Chris Therien in the 1990s makes those players’ development all the more important. They represent Murphy’s personal projects.

“He’s been a guy that has helped develop defensemen in this league, and with the young guys that we have coming up Ron felt that was important and so did I,” Holmgren said. “They’re going to be shown the right way to play.”